Tesla Model X screen failure problems

Filed Jan 1, 2026 · AL

I am a software engineer and owner of two 2020 Tesla Model X (Raven) vehicles. Both exhibit a serious safety defect after installing firmware 2025.44.25.4 with FSD v12.6.4. Vehicle configuration: Model S/X with MCU2 (Intel Atom) and Hardware 3 (HW3). Defect description: When Full Self-Driving (FSD) is engaged, the vehicle intermittently enters a critical failure state while in motion: • The instrument cluster (driver display) suddenly goes completely black • The center screen issues a red “Take Control Immediately” alert with alarms • The infotainment computer performs a watchdog reset and reboots (Tesla logo appears) while the vehicle is traveling at highway speeds This has occurred multiple times on both vehicles. Suspected cause: The 2025.44 software update appears to introduce additional dashcam telemetry writes (speed, steering, FSD state) to the USB device while recording video. On MCU2 (Intel Atom), this creates an I/O and CPU bottleneck that starves display and safety-critical threads, triggering an operating-system watchdog reboot. Disabling Dashcam immediately stops the crashes, indicating a resource-exhaustion condition rather than driver error. Safety risk: During the blackout and reboot, the driver loses all visual feedback from the instrument cluster while being instructed to take control. This creates a high risk of collision, especially at highway speeds or in complex traffic environments. Severity: Loss of driver display and system reboot while driving constitutes a safety-critical defect. This condition could lead to serious injury or death. I request the federal safety agency investigation into instrument-cluster blackouts and system reboots on Tesla HW3/MCU2 vehicles when FSD and Dashcam are enabled.

Filed Sep 10, 2025 · Driver assistance, Electrical · DE

Issue Description GPS freeze: The navigation system remains stuck at one location even when the vehicle is moving. Park Assist not available. FSD not available. Rear camera shows black screen, completely disabling reverse visibility. These issues occur intermittently, often lasting for days, and then resolve themselves unexpectedly. Unfortunately, when scheduling service, the problem often disappears by the appointment date, making diagnosis inconsistent. However, the failures have already occurred more than three times, and each time they severely impact both safety and usability. Safety Concerns Lack of rear camera visibility creates a direct safety hazard during reversing. Disabled Park Assist and FSD compromise Tesla’s advertised safety features. GPS malfunction affects navigation and system reliability.

Filed Feb 3, 2023 · Acceleration, Driver assistance · TX

This issue most likely plagued our Model X during it's original factory warranty based on the class action, NTHSA inquiry, and NTHSA and Tesla recall for the same issue which affects Model X buil between 2016 and 201. These are the things we have personally experienced 12 times over our short ownership, 6 times these nearly caused accidents - this catastrophic malfunction has occurred (on average) once every 500 miles during our ownership: Primary driving instrument and safety info screen (small screen/driver dash screen) and larger infotainment screen BOTH: Freeze, “lock up” or “go blank” Turn black (an issue known by some drivers as “the black screen of death”) Fail to turn on Repeatedly reboot Display a “touchscreen unresponsive” message Stop working completely Otherwise malfunction These issues generally occurred at the worst possible times, most likely when the deficiently designed computer was over taxed (night, weather, traffic, cold - though it also occurred twice under basic conditions). Each time, it was absolutely disorienting and results in a hazard for driver, occupants, and people/property around the malfunctioning vehicle. Class action info - https://www.classaction.org/tesla-s-x-touchscreen-mcu-problems-lawsuits the federal safety agency investigation: the federal safety agency and Tesla Recall - https://www.classaction.org/media/tesla-touchscreen-recall-notice.pdf Tesla has failed to repair this issue over the past 6 months. I requested they repair, replace, or repurchase per my owner's rights. Tesla now refuses to repair and negligently states that I must pick up the faulty and unsafe vehicle. They are in breach of their warranty and recall obligations.

Filed Jan 31, 2023 · Driver assistance, Lights · 30,000 miles · CA

The contact owns a 2016 Tesla Model-X. The contact received notification of the federal safety agency Campaign Number: 21V035000 (Back Over Prevention, Visibility, Exterior Lighting) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The contact stated that the center display intermittently turned blank while driving. Additionally, the contact stated that upon engaging the turn signals, there was no indication that the turn signals were engaged. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired. The failure mileage was 30,000. Parts distribution disconnect.

Filed Aug 15, 2022 · Electrical, Lights · PA

Headlights will not work. Due to the vehicle not having a method of turning on headlights without access to a properly working media control unit which happens to be of all touch screen functionality a blackout of the screen will cause the driver to have no other access to the headlights or other vital safety features. This issue has been ongoing with Tesla for a long period of time and it continuously put the occupants of the vehicle at risk for injury both severe or fatal. Repeatedly addressed this malfunction of the vehicle with the repair facility and it has failed to be corrected or repaired.

Filed Jul 12, 2022 · CA · crash

incomplete list: overheating infotainment system cameras fail condensation blocks or blurs cameras sensors fail infotainment system failure eg lag or black, in part or while, including while driving locked out of or into car defective defroster failed power steering alignment; Tesla replaced axles three (3) times, breaks, leaks; uneven tire wear, premature replacement of tires car in gear to reverse but drove forward, could not drive in reverse; written police testimony falcon wing doors crushing car, no longer sound proof, weather proof; to demonstrate doors injuring people and pets video recorded doors chopping carrots battery 60% of range under the best of conditions eg no climate, fair weather, no tow, no USB charging, no interior lights and so on records: over twenty four (24) repairs by Tesla photos, videos, screen shots witnesses attempts to resolve with Tesla: Tesla failed to repair, refused to service, refused extended warranty, refused buy back, refused trade in, refused replacement The consumer stated the hood does not heat up, during the winter snow will stick make it visibly impossible to see.

Filed Jul 8, 2022 · CA

Touchscreen turns off/goes blank while driving; lose air conditioning, rear view camera, etc. Dash Screen widgets/displays do not load and flashes between light gray and back to black while driving. I received a recall notice for the vehicle/touchscreen eMMC. I previously brought my vehicle in service in Nov, 2021 and received the vehicle back in Dec, 2021 and noticed no better functionality with the new 64gb part vs the old 8gb part. I later received a software update around February 2022 (software version 2021.24, about 12months after initial release). Immediately after that software update I began having the above issues with the Touchscreen and Dash screen. I called technical support over the phone and they said my vehicle was eligible for the recall (which I thought had been completed) and advised I make a service appointment for the eMMC recall.

Filed Apr 10, 2022 · Acceleration, Driver assistance · VA

While driving at speed approximately 4:20PM EST April 9th, 2022 on I95 near the Georgia/South Carolina border the onboard computer froze and became unresponsive, including the speedometer, the radio, navigation system, etc.. I became aware of the issue because the car started to slowly slow down but the display continued to show 70 MPH. I forced the computer out of Autopilot but the car continued to show it was in autopilot. shortly after the display behind the steering wheel went blank then rebooted, followed by the center console. thankfully I was paying attention and did not panic, had I panicked I could very easily been in an accident as I did not know what was going on with the car. I reached out to tesla multiple times following the incident and the agents and agents were non-caring and treated it as no big deal, and acted as if I should not be concerned about it. I could not even get assistance from them on getting service for the car. they kept pointing me to the Mobile app on the phone which would not function properly and after typing the incident into as I wrote above 3 times I gave up.

Filed Mar 1, 2022 · Driver assistance · CA

Since installing the latest update (2021.24.48), my vehicle is suddenly experiencing: * frequent bogus forward collision warnings (several per day) * instrument cluster outages (black screen) * sudden autopilot shutdowns caused by center display communication failures (MCU) Other people with significantly different configurations (e.g. with the eMMC repair done, with autopilot hardware version 1, etc.) have experienced similar failures. This seems to be a very serious software regression that needs to be addressed immediately.

Filed Dec 13, 2021 · Driver assistance, Lights · 19,000 miles · IL

The contact owns a 2017 Tesla Model X. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the center display would inadvertently turn blank or reset on its own. The contact stated that the rear-view camera would inadvertently turn blank and the center display would take more than five minutes to reset while driving. The contact also stated that the audio sound of the vehicle would fail to work, including the turn signal beeping sound. The vehicle was taken to a Tesla service center who reset the software; however, the failure had been reoccurring while driving. The vehicle was taken to a second Tesla service center, Tesla (320 W Golf Rd, Schaumburg, IL 60195) several times and the software was reloaded; however, the failure persisted. The contact received a recall notification for the federal safety agency Campaign Number: 21V035000 (Back Over Prevention, Visibility, Exterior Lighting) however, the dealer informed the contact that the parts for the recall repair were not yet available. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was notified of the issue. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 19,000. Parts distribution disconnect. Consumer stated it appears the chips are available, and Tesla has chosen to sell an upgrade rather than comply with the recall.